I admit sometimes I read Scriptures and once the thought is formed in my mind it is hard to change. I’m stubborn. I have also been taught Scripture for over 40 years and although I have sat under a few different denominations, they have all been similar in their theology. So internalizing the teaching, it also becomes harder for me to think differently. When we haven’t been exposed to other schools of thought grounding in Scriptures, it is easy to believe we have the right understanding.
This is not about trying to change your deeply held beliefs, but rather to present God’s Word and help understand how sometimes other have a view different from ours and hold to it just as tightly. It can help us to explore why others believe what they do instead of getting trapped in an endless debate. I will add this in not about the basic principles of salvation and faith in Christ, but rather secondary things that are often reason for denominations or reasons people will say they find the Bible confusing.
Before jumping into the scriptures, I am going to present two schools of thought that I had to investigate when my own reading challenged what I understood. I will not argue one direction or the other, rather present what God’s Word says, and you can wrestle with it for yourself and come to your own conclusion.
I have read Scriptures like Malachi 3:6 that God does not change and taken it at face value for God’s divine immutability (unchanging over time, inability to change).
For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.” Malachi 3:6
From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, the word for change is The verb shana is sometimes used to describe a change in character or way or life. Thus the immutability of God is expressed in Mal 3:6 by the statement that God does not change, 2419 maw (shana) I, change. and his faithfulness to his promise is shown in the statement that he will not alter that which he has spoken (Ps 89:34 [H 35)]).
The verb is also used in the sense ‘‘be different,’ such as in the statement in Est 3:8 that the Jews have laws and customs different from any other people.
A change of clothes for Jehoiachin is involved in Il Kgs 25:29 when he is released from prison. In I Sam 21:14 and I Kgs 14:2 it ts used of a disguise. In the former verse David feigns madness, while in the second Jeroboam’s wife disguises herself before visiting Ahijah the prophet. In one passage (Est 2:9) there is a physical transfer from one location to another.
From Scripture, we can learn that:
God’s character never changes.
For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.” Malachi 3:6
““But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.” Psalm 102:27
Jesus Christ does not change.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
God’s promises do not change.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8
I will not violate My covenant, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Psalm 89:34
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” James 1:17
This year I have been reading the Bible in the Complete Jewish study Bible, so that is why this idea of change caught my attention more, despite other translations using similar wording. I am really focusing on the words spoken by God. Not just the Bible as God’s Word, but what He directly spoke to persons and people. I have been writing out His direct words spoken because it just helps me process and remember more than reading alone. And something struck me, God does change His mind at times. So we are going to look at a few stories that this is evident, and where God speaks of his own change of mind. But before, I will explain two theological perspectives of this.
Classical theism (belief in and about God) is that God literally does not change His mind, this is taught by most mainstream denominations. This perspective uses Anthropomorphism (the attribution of human characteristics or behaviors to God, animals or objects) and Anthropopathism (attributing human emotions, feelings and passions to God, animals and objects) saying that it is a human description of what a shift in God’s actions look like from our standpoint. And they also look at prophesies where God changed His mind as conditional, so that it was the people who changed, not God’s mind.
The other perspective is known as Open Theism arguing that the perspective of classical theism is drawn from Greek teachings rather than the actual text of the Bible. This perspective believes that God chooses to experience time alongside humans. It teaches humans have genuine free will, so the future is not completely fixed. When humans make choices, God dynamically and authentically responds. It teaches God actually changing His mind as a result of the actions of men.
One of the first that caught my attention was in Number 22 and 23. The story of Balaam being asked to curse the Israelites. We know from God’s promises to Abraham that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. And God was telling Balaam, that has not changed. After the story is complete Balaam tells Balak: ““God is not a man, that He would lie, Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good” Numbers 23:19
But even in the story, God does change His mind.
These words are spoken by God. “But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”” Numbers 22:12
Again these words are spoken by God to Balaam. “And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do only the thing that I tell you.”” Numbers 22:20
This action was taken by God after He told Balaam to go to Balak. “But God was angry that he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.” Numbers 22:22
Then the angel of the Lord spoke again: “But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.” Numbers 22:35
God clearly did not change the message about cursing and blessing, but did change his instructions to Balaam about going.
Another example is found in The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham approached and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place on their account.” And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only dust and ashes. Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place. Genesis 18:17-33
Now we know from the next chapter that God did destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. There were not ten righteous people found in the city. Four people left the city, and only three survived. However, God was willing to change his mind as Abraham interceded for city. I believe this is because God’s character of mercy and justice do not change. It would not be just for God to punish the righteous for the sins of the wicked. It would not be merciful for God to punish the righteous for the sins of the wicked.
Another example is found when Moses reminds the children of Israel of their deeds in the wilderness. Moses had been up on Mt Sinai / Mt Horab getting the instructions from the Lord, and Aaron and the Israelites were down at the bottom directing a golden statue because Moses had been gone too long (See also Exodus 20) . And a second incident that Moses reminds them of how the did not go up and possess the land that God gave them (see Numbers 13-14).
“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, because your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have behaved corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast metal image for themselves.’ The LORD also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people. Leave Me alone, that I may destroy them and wipe out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ “So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God. You had made for yourselves a cast metal image of a calf; you had quickly turned aside from the way that the LORD had commanded you. So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands, and smashed them to pieces before your eyes! Then I fell down before the LORD like the first time, for forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed by doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and the rage with which the LORD was angry with you so as to destroy you; but the LORD listened to me that time as well. The LORD was also angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. And I took your sinful thing which you had made, the calf, and burned it in the fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.
“Then at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah you kept provoking the LORD to anger. And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you,’ you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; you neither trusted Him nor listened to His voice. You have been rebellious toward the LORD since the day I knew you. “So I fell down before the LORD for the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD said He would destroy you. And I prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand! Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not turn Your attention to the stubbornness of this people, or to their wickedness, or their sin. Otherwise, the people of the land from which You brought us will say, “Since the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them, and since He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness!” Yet they are Your people, and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.’” Deuteronomy 9:12-29
Moses fasted and interceded for the people, prostrating himself before the Lord, pleading for him not to destroy them. Again, he appealed to God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jabob. He reminded God that the other nations were also going to see His actions against the people He loved.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Forty more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, removed his robe from himself, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the dust. And he issued a proclamation, and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: No person, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat, or drink water. But every person and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and people are to call on God vehemently, and they are to turn, each one from his evil way, and from the violence which is in their hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent, and turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their evil way, then God relented of the disaster which He had declared He would bring on them. So He did not do it. Jonah 3
This Scripture certainly shows that the repentance of the people from Nineveh, from the King on down to the animals was seen by God. His change of mind was based on the change of the people. He did not act on the destruction, because the Ninevites sought God upon hearing the message hoping He might change his mind. We know this is the ultimate plan of God, for men to repent and turn to Him. This was a message that the prophets spoke to Israel and the nations that were against them throughout the prophets.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Am I not able, house of Israel, to deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will relent of the good with which I said that I would bless it. Jeremiah 18:5-10
and said to them, “This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him: ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. Jeremiah 42:9-11
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And tear your heart and not merely your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, S low to anger, abounding in mercy and relenting of catastrophe. Who knows, He might turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God. Joel 2:12-14
This is what the Lord God showed me, and behold, He was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, “Lord God, please pardon! How can Jacob stand? For he is small.” The Lord relented of this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord.
So the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farmland. Then I said, “Lord God, please stop! How can Jacob stand? For he is small.” The Lord relented of this. “This too shall not be,” said the Lord God. Amos 7:1-6
The last example I will give, although there are many others is from 1 Samuel 15. God had spoken through Samuel to Saul to go and destroy all of Amalek putting to death everything – people and animals. Saul went into battle and was victorious, but spared Agag and the best sheep. God says twice in this chapter that he regrets having made Saul king.
Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, because (B)he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was furious and cried out to the Lord all night. Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.” So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the bellowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have completely destroyed.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me inform you of what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”
So Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were insignificant in your own eyes, that you became the head of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed you as king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Instead, you loudly rushed upon the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord!”
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, for I went on the mission on which the Lord sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Samuel said,
“Does the Lord have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of the Lord He has also rejected you from being king.”
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have violated the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Now then, please pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” Then Samuel turned to go, but Saul grasped the edge of his robe, and it tore off. So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. Also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor change His mind; for He is not a man, that He would change His mind.” Then Saul said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before all Israel, and go back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is gone!” But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, though Samuel mourned for Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. 1 Samuel 15:10-35
Although the Lord shows that he changed his mind, regretting make Saul King, He does not remove the kingdom from Saul. But the scripture contains a verse that feels contradictory to the idea that God does change his mind.
“Also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor change His mind; for He is not a man, that He would change His mind.”” 1 Samuel 15:29
The word translated change here is actually repent. From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, The kjv translates the Niphal of nhm ‘repent’ thirty-eight times. The majority of these instances refer to God’s repentance, not man’s. The word most frequently employed to indicate man’s repentance ts shizb -(q.v.), meaning ‘‘to turn’ (from sin to God). Unlike man, who under the conviction of sin feels genuine remorse and sorrow, God is free from sin. Yet the Scriptures inform us that God repents (Gen 6:6—-7: Ex 32:14; Jud 2:18: I Sam 15:11 et al.), 1.e. he relents or changes his dealings with men according to his sovereign purposes. On the surface, such language seems inconsistent, if not contradictory, with certain passages which affirm God’s immutability: *‘’God is nota man… that he should repent’ (I Sam 15:29 contra v. 11): “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind™ (Ps 110:4). When nadham is used of God, however, the expression is anthropopathic and there is not ultimate tension. From man’s limited, earthly, finite perspective it only appears that God’s purposes have changed. Thus the OT states that God ‘repented’ of the judgments or “‘evil’’ which he had planned to carry out (1 Chr 21:15: Jer 18:8: 26:3, 19: Amos 7:3, 6; Jon 3:10). Certainly Jer 18:7-10 is a striking reminder that from God’s perspective, most prophecy (excluding messianic predictions) is conditional upon the response of men. In this regard, A. J. Heschel (The Prophets, p. 194) has said, *‘No word is God’s final word. Judgment, far from being absolute, is conditional. A change in man’s conduct brings about a change in God’s judgment.”
Samuel was telling Saul no matter his pleading, God was not going to change his mind about ultimately taking the kingdom and ultimately giving it to David.
As I reflect on these passages, I am left not with a simple answer, but with a deeper appreciation for the mystery of a God whose character, promises, justice, and mercy remain steadfast while His dealings with people are genuinely responsive to repentance, obedience, and intercession. Whether we understand this language through classical theism, open theism, or another framework, these accounts invite us to read Scripture humbly, to hold our conclusions carefully, and to recognize that prayer and human response matter in our relationship with God.
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